Pending Sales Increase is 1st in 4 Months; Price Index Wavering; Rates Modestly Lower

Pending Sales Increase is 1st in 4 Months; Price Index Wavering; Rates Modestly Lower

Pending home sales recovered from a three-month swoon in June, increasing 1.5 percent in June. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose to 110.2. NAR also revised the May PHSI up slightly, from 108.5 to 108.6. The index in June was 0.5 percent higher than a year earlier. NAR said it was the first time the Index ran higher on an annual basis since last March. The Index is a forward-looking indicator based on contracts for existing home purchases. Those contracts are generally expected to result in completed transactions in about two months. Analysts were expecting an increase in contract signings, although at a more modest level. The index came in at the top of predictions from those polled by Econoday which ranged from 0.3 to 1.5 percent